To run or not to run for mayor's seat

GOVERNMENT WATCH

OVIEDO -- Paul Sladek pulled paperwork last week to qualify for the mayor's race, but said Monday he doesn't know yet whether he will run.

"I would say I'm considering it but leaning against," said Sladek, an attorney who works in the law firm of his mother-in-law, Evelyn Cloninger.

Oviedo Mayor Tom Walters said he does not plan to run for re-election. Former mayor Mary Lou Andrews has announced plans to run for his seat.

Sladek said he first wants to talk with Andrews "about her thoughts and plans for the city." But the decision to run "probably will be a last-minute decision," he said. "It takes a lot of effort to run. I think you really have to be up for it and convinced you're the right person for the job and that the other people running aren't qualified before putting yourself up to that kind of abuse."

When he was a Harvard Law School student in 2002, Sladek ran and lost against City Council member Dominic Persampiere.